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California Gov. Jerry Brown may have difficulty in overcoming local opponents of "energy sprawl," writes Robert Bryce of the Manhattan Institute. The concerns of wind-energy opponents, including more than 100 anti-wind groups in the U.S. alone, should be taken seriously, Bryce adds.

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Officials in Frankfort, Maine, allowed wind-energy developer Eolian Renewable Energy to continue on-site testing on Mount Waldo despite the town's six-month moratorium on wind projects, according to documents. Eolian's "scientific studies" are not part of the issues that the moratorium is designed to address, the company argued. "If we were going to build four 400-foot-tall towers up there, that has the potential to present risks. We understand that component of [the moratorium]. But the part that stops any testing is completely unreasonable," CEO Jack Kenworthy said.

China's wind power industry is expected to lead the country's renewable-energy push in the next few years, insiders said. China's wind power installed capacity is projected to reach 100 gigawatts by 2015, up from 44.7 GW at the end of 2010, according to the country's National Energy Administration. However, the industry's development could be hampered by poor grid integration, experts said.

Switzerland-based engineering group ABB said it has secured a $1 billion contract to build a transmission network that would allow offshore wind farms in the North Sea to access Germany's electric grid. The transmission project would have the capacity to carry enough wind power to supply at least 1.5 million houses, ABB said. The transmission network is expected to cut at least 3 million tons of carbon emissions annually when it goes online in 2015, the company added.

Seattle's Principle Power is negotiating a deal with the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, to use Boon Island as a demonstration site for its prototype offshore wind turbine. The project will attract turbine developers to Maine, said Robert West, Principle Power's program manager. The company also offered to power the shipyard using the prototype turbine, which could generate up to five megawatts of electricity, West said.

Wind power could provide up to 15.7% of electricity requirements in the EU by 2020 and 28.5% by 2030, according to the European Wind Energy Association. Wind farms currently supply 5.3% of the region's electricity demand. "EWEA believes wind energy can provide half of Europe's power by 2050, with the remainder from other renewable sources," the group said.